Holy Trinity Cathedral, North Street, Kingston

Early Postcard Cir 1908

Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kingston, Jamaica.
Beauty and Marvel of Kingston's Holy Trinity Cathedral
The Holy Trinity Cathedral located on North Street near downtown Kingston is an architectural and aesthetic marvel. Not only for its 85 foot high copper dome-one of the only structures of its kind in the Caribbean, nor for its magnificent organ of which only five of its kind exist in the Caribbean-but for the intricate and ornate murals and decorative artwork on the inner walls, dating back to the original structure which was built in 1911. The edifice was declared a National Heritage Site by the Jamaican Government in the year 2000.
But if you had visited the church before 2008, you wouldn't have seen the choir on the ceiling, nor would you have seen the beautiful red and blue patterned walls, nor the brass leaves inlaid in the eaves to the side, because they were covered with ten layers of dull gray paint.
Beginning in 2008, after years of stalled efforts, a massive restoration of the Holy Trinity Cathedral began. Despite the cathedral playing an important role as the location of the funerals of heads of state, and weddings and baptisms of some of Jamaica's most prominent citizens, the building was in a state of major structural disrepair. Most of the stained glass windows that were destroyed in Hurricane Charlie (1951) were never replaced, the organ didn't work, and the pews were ridden with termites. But these deficiencies were minor compared to the fact that the roof was, quite literally, falling in.
Cathedral is a Byzantine structure resembling the Santa Sophia Basilica of Constantinople. It was designed and built by Canadians, commissioned by U.S. Bishop John Collins and the Jamaican Roman Catholic community in 1908. The original interior artwork-which is comparable to the murals of any cathedral in Latin America or Europe-was done by Jesuit lay-brother Francis J. Schroen, one of the greatest Catholic church interior decorators of his time. His work at the Cathedral is thought to be his largest ever.
While the surviving stained glass windows-which are in need of minor repairs-are quite ordinarily pretty, the aesthetic marvel of the Holy Trinity Cathedral is the murals and the wall artwork. Though photos exist of the cathedral before the interior was painted grey in 1970, the photos are all black and white, so there was no visual record of the brilliance of the reds, blues, golds and greens that have now become visible since the paint was removed, under the supervision of Spanish master restorer Professor Antonio Sanchez-Barriga Fernandez.
On stepping inside the cathedral, you cannot but help to gasp. The beauty literally takes your breath away. It is unbelievable that this artwork could have been painted over.

Early Postcard cir 1930s interior view

Which raises the question: why was it painted over? Who could have considered, much less authorized, the masking of such skilled artisanship? Source:Holy Trinity Cathedral Website.

Postcard cir 1908, AC Collection.